Continuous lighting fixture



4 Sheets-Sheet 1 H mm Mm Zia/Q 7160715.-

nan/(2102717 Jamil? July 29, 1941. A. T. HAGERTY ET AL CONTINUOUSLIGHTING FIXTURE Filed Dec. 51, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 A. T. HAGERTY ETAL CONTINUOUS LIGHTING FIXTUREv Filed D90. 31, 1957 July 29, 1941.

July 29, 1941.

A. T. HAGERTY :1- AL 2,250,954 CONTINUOUS LIGHTING FI'X'IURE Filed Dec.31, 1937 Q 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 wa/d v fizz/anions: 072M362 2071622 2 mail.Sze

Patented July 29, 1941 Andrew T. Hagerty and Lemuel L. Stewart, Elkhart,Ind., assignors to The Adlake Company, a corporation of IllinoisApplication December 31, 1937, Serial No. 182,858

7 Claims.

This invention relates to a continuous lighting fixture for railwaycars, buses and the like, particularly of the clerestory type, theprincipal objects of the invention being to provide a highly efficient,nice-appearing, continuous fixture which can be manufactured at lowcost, quickly and inexpensively installed, easily relamped, andconveniently maintained.

Further and other objects of the invention will become apparent as thedisclosure proceeds and the description is read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view througha railway car equipped with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a side, elevational view showing a portion of the fixture;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, sectional view through the end of one of thelouvre units;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of a modified form of louvre;

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view through the modified form of louvreshown in Fig. 5, the section being taken on the line 6"?) of thatfigure;

Figure 7 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view through the fixturewith intermediate portions broken away, the section being taken on theline 'l! of Fig. 9;

Fig. 8 is a horizontal, sectional view taken on the line 88 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 9 is a transverse, cross-sectional view taken on the line 9-9 ofFig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a transverse, cross-sectional view taken on the line l0-Illof Fig. 8;

Fig. 11 is an enlarged detail, sectional view I taken on the line H-llof Fig. 9,andv showing the means for alining adjacent brackets;

Fig. 12 is a sectional view taken on the line l2l.2 of Fig. 9, showingthe application of the brackets to the adjacent wall; and

Fig. 13 is an exploded perspective view show- I ing the relationshipbetween the various elements of the fixture.

The invention set forth in the appended claims may be embodied invarious forms and the choice of a specific embodiment for illustrationand description is merely in compliance with Sec. 4888 of the RevisedStatutes. The claims, therefore, should not be limited to the embodimentshown and described, unless necessary to the validity of the claims, andthen only to the extent required for a finding of validity.

The continuous lighting fixture shown in the drawings, and forconvenience referred to generally by the reference character Zii, hasits greatest applicability to railway cars, or buses, of the clerestorytype, although the fixture-may be used in other environments.

A railway car 2! is shown somewhat diagrammatically in Fig. l, the carhaving sides 22, lower decks 23, half decks 2 and a top deck 25, thecross section of the car identifying the car as one of the clerestorytype. The arrangement of seats l9 within the car maybe chosen to suitthe conditions for which the car is to be used, and for the purpose ofthis disclosure, they-are shown as conventional railway coach seatsarranged in tandem.

The fixture 23 is designed for installation along the half deck of thecar, and its function is to illuminate the seats below, any advertisingcards which may be mounted on the ceiling of the lower deck 23, andprovide a certainamount of general illumination directed toward thecenter of the car and upwardly to the ceiling of the. top deck 25. i

For convenience of manufacture and installation, the fixture is made ina plurality of sections 23, each of which comprises a bracket 21, one ormore intermediate brackets 28, front connecting members 29, 3t and 3!,rear or back connecting members 32 and 33, and a top connecting channel3 which serves as a housing for the electrical conduits.

The brackets with their connecting members form a trough having a bottomopening which is preferably equipped with some form of light controllingmeans, as for example louvre units, generally designated 35, a frontopening which for the purpose of appearance and light control ispreferably closed by a translucent plate 36 which may be of opal glass,or plastic material such as phenol-formaldehyde compound,urea-formaldehyde compound, methyl-methacrylate resin, celluloseacetate, a back opening, which likewise is preferably closed by atranslucent plate 31, and a top opening 38 which is preferably left opento provide good ventilation of'the fixture and to throw light upwardlyonto the ceiling of the top deck 25. The intermediate brackets 23 arespider-like castings having a web 39 cut out at 40 to reduce weight, andassist in the distribution of light, and provided with laterallyextending attaching flanges M, 42, 53, 44, 45, and 46 (see Fig. 13). Theend brackets 21 are substantially the same as the intermediate brackets28 with the exception that approximately half of each of the attachingflanges are cut away so that the face which is presented to the endbracket of the adjacent unit, or to, the finish bracket 41 at the twoends of the entire fixture, is substantially planar.

In making up a trough section 26, the end brackets 21 and intermediatebrackets 28 are held in suitable jigs and connecting members 29, 30, 3|,32, 33 and 34 (all but the latter being extruded aluminum pieces) arescrewed to the attaching flanges of the brackets. The laterallyextending flange 48 of the extrusion 29 rests on a bent-over flange 49of the pressed 'steel channel 34 and is screwed to the bosses 43 bycountersunk screws 50 (Fig. the lower margin of the extrusion 29 issecured to the lower portion of the bosses 43 by screws 52; theextrusion 30 is secured to the bosses 44 by screws 53, the extrusion 3|is secured to the bosses 45 by screws 54; the extrusion 32 is secured tothe bosses 4| by countersunk screws 55 (Fig. 12) the extrusion 33 issecured to the bosses 46 by screws 56; and the pressed steel channel 34is secured to the bosses 42 by screws 51a (Fig. Ill).

The cover 51 of the conduit channel 34 is adapted to have one edgeslipped under a lip 58 of the channel 34 and be held in place by aplurality of cover screws 59 which pass through the cover, the flange 48of the extrusion 29 and the bent-over flange 49 of the channel 34. Aslightly curved reflector 69 extends the full length of the troughsection. and is secured by screws 6| to the underside of attachingflanges or bosses 62 and 63 integral with the brackets 21 and 28. Thereflector may be made of any suitable material, and be finished asdesired, but

preferably, a .032 inch Alcoa reflector is used which consists of analuminum sheet coated with pure aluminum and then treated for thedesired finish.

The reflector 60 is punctured at intervals to receive tube sockets 64which have their upper ends shaped to project through a specially shapedopening 65 in the channel 34 and be secured to the channel by screws 66.The purpose of allowing a portion of the socket to project through theopening 65 is so that the screws 66 are not subjected to shear when lampbulbs 61 are being screwed into the socket 64. The leads from the socket64 are suitably spliced to the main electrical conduits 68, access tothe channel being readily obtained by removal of the cover 51.

In applying the fixture to the half deck of a car, a finish bracket 41is first screwed as at 69 to one of the end bulkheads N1 of the car. Thefinish, bracket consists of a web having masking flanges 12, 13, and I4adapted to receive the end of the adjacent trough section and allow forlimited expansion and contraction without showing a clearance betweenthe fixture and the bulkhead to passengers in the car. The first troughsection is then located with respect to the finish bracket 41 and thebrackets are screwed to the half deck by screws 15 passing through thebosses 42 and screws 16 passing through the bosses 4|. Between thebrackets, screws 11 and 18, spaced apart a suitable distance, rigidlyfasten the extrusion 32 to the finish sheets 19 of the car.

After the first trough section has been secured in place, the panes 36and 31 are inserted in the grooves 80 provided in the extrusion 30, 3|,32 and 33. Adjacent panes are separated by a spacer 8| (Fig. 13) whichhas end tongues 82 adapted to slide in the grooves 80, and side grooves83 adapted to receive the ends of adjacent panes. Preferably, though notnecessarily, the panes are of such length that a spacer will occurbetween adjacent trough sections, but this is not necessary as the panesmay overlap adjacent trough sections.

After the first trough section has been installed, the next troughsection is located and fastened to the adjacent wall in the same manneras the first section. The two sections are drawn together by nuts andbolts 84 and to make certain that the extrusions will be in perfectalinement, a short bar 85 is preferably placed beneath the bosses 44 sothat when the screws 53 are screwed into place, the plate will serve toplace the bosses 44 of adjacent brackets in exact alinement with theresult that all other parts of the bracket and sections will be in exactalinement.

After the second section has been installed in place, the panes 36 and31 and spacers 8| for that section may he slid into place after whichthe third section is installed, etc.

The louvre units 35 which extend across the mouth of the trough are madeup in units of 8 (or any other desirable number), the louvres themselvesbeing preferably made of one of the plastic materials mentioned before.The louvres may be shaped as shown in Figs. 4 and 9, in which thelouvres have their greatest thickness along the line 86, or they may beshaped as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, in which the main body of the louvreis relatively thin and the necessary strength is obtained bya marginalbead 81. The advantage of a thin louvre is that the louvre has greaterlight transmission, and not only is the effect very pleasing, but theefiiciency of the fixture as a whole is increased. Whatever the form ofthe louvre, it preferably has ears B8 pierced at 89 to receive rods 99,the louvres being suitably spaced by plastic spacers 9| of slightlygreater radiusthan the ears 88. The unit as a whole is held together bynuts 92 which for the sake of appearance are press fitted into plasticcollars 93 of the same radius as the spacers 9|. The collar 93 isexactly one half the length of one of the spacers 9|, so that the endlouvres of adjacent louvre units will be uniformly spaced with respectto the other louvres. I

The louvre units are installed in place by being tilted laterally asshown in dotted lines in Fig. 9 to bring the front edge of the unit intocontact with the felt-lined concave inner surface 94 of the extrusion3|. The unit is slid lengthwise along the fixture while in the dottedline position (or slightly lower), and when the unit is in its properlongitudinal position, the rear side of the unit (i. e. the sideadjacent to the extrusion 33) is lowered into a snap fastener 95 whichconsists of a phosphor bronze spring bent to shape and having ears 96 bywhich the spring fasteners are secured to the extrusion 33 by screws 91.The fasteners are placed at suitable intervals along the fixture so thatthere is at least one, but preferably two fasteners, for each louvreunit.

The inwardly extending lips 93 on the extrusions 3| and 33 serve to maskthe supporting means for the louvre units and give the fixture as awhole a finished appearance.

The fixture which has been described is highly efficient and provideslight in all directions with the desired distribution; is wellventilated; is capable of being manufactured cheaply in sections whichpermit easy installation; and presents a very neat appearance in thecar. In the event a single louvre is broken, the unit containing thatlouvre may be quickly removed, disassembled and a new louvre substitutedfor the broken one, and lamps may be replaced without disturbing anypart of the fixture other than removing the louvre section beneath thelamp.

Modifications of detail will readily suggest themselves to personsskilled in the art, and all these are intended to be covered by theappended claims.

We claim:

1. A continuous lighting fixture including a trough section comprisingspaced wall brackets each of which has laterally extending front andrear flanges and an intermediate laterally extending flange above saidfront and rear flanges, front and rear connecting members secured to thefront and rear flanges respectively to form an open trough, a alongitudinally extending substantially vertical plate secured to theintermediate fianges, a light socket positioned behind the plate adaptedto support a lamp projecting below the plate and between the front andrear connecting members, a reflector above the lamp for projecting thelight from the lamp downwardly, said front and rear connecting membershaving light transmitting portions, and louvre units removablypositioned at the mouth of the trough.

2. A continuous lighting fixture including a trough section comprisingspaced wall brackets each of which has laterally extending front andrear flanges and an intermediate laterally extending flange above saidfront and rear flanges, front and rear connecting members secured to thefront and rear flanges respectively to form an open trough, alongitudinally extending substantially vertical plate secured to theintermediate flanges and extending downwardly in a plane between theplane of the front flanges and the plane of the rear flanges and spacedtherefrom to provide an opening between said plate and front wall, alight socket positioned behind the plate adapted to support a lampprojecting below the plate and between the front and rear connectingmembers for emitting rays of light through said opening, and a reflectorabove the lamp for projecting the light from the lamp downwardly.

3. A continuous lighting fixture including a trough section comprisingspaced wall brackets each of which has laterally extending front andrear flanges and an intermediate laterally extending flange above saidfront and rear flanges, front and rear connecting members secured to thefront and rear flanges respectively to form an open trough, alongitudinally extending substantially vertical plate secured to theintermediate flanges and extending downwardly in a plane outwardly ofsaid inner brackets, a light socket positioned behind the platesubstantially in the horizontal projection thereof and adapted tosupport a lamp projecting below the plate and between the front and rearconnecting members, a reflector above the lamp for projecting the lightfrom the lamp downwardly, and a conduit channel connecting the upperportions of the brackets.

4. A continuous lighting fixture including a trough section comprisingspaced wall brackets each of which has laterally extending front andrear flanges and an intermediate laterally extending flange above saidfront and rear flanges and in a plane between the same, front and rearconnecting members secured to the front and rear flanges respectively toform an open trough, a longitudinally extending substantially verticalplate secured to the intermediate flange, an upwardly opening channelextending lengthwise to the lighting fixture and supported on thebrackets at their upper extremities between the intermediate plate andthe rear connecting member, a plurality of light sockets supported onthe channel and depending downwardly therefrom, an electric circuitincluding wiring in the channel for energizing the light sockets and alight globe in each socket, the sockets and bulbs being disposedrelative to this longitudinal Vertical plate so that the sockets aresubstantially within the horizontal projection of the plate and theglobes project below said projection.

5. A continuous lighting fixture for use in a car having a passengercompartment, comprising a trough section adapted to be secured to thecar above said compartment, comprising spaced wall brackets each ofwhich has laterally extending front and rear flanges and an intermediatelaterally extending flange above said front and rear flange, front andrear connecting members secured to the front and rear flangesrespectively to form an open trough, a longitudinally extendingsubstantially vertical plate secured to the intermediate flange, ahorizontally extending light supporting member mounted adjacent to thetop of the brackets, a plurality of light sockets mounted on thesupporting member and depending downwardly therefrom, the sockets beingsubstantially within the horizontal projection of the vertical plate, ahorizontal reflector below the sockets and with the light supportingmember and the vertical plate forming three sides of a box housing, thereflector being perforated at the position of each light socket, and adownwardly projecting light bulb in each socket extending below thevertical plate.

6. A continuous light fixture for use in a car having a passengercompartment, comprising an elongated lighting trough adapted to besecured to said car above said compartment and to extend longitudinallythereof, said trough having front and rear sides and a bottom througheach of which rays of light may pass, sources of light, means above thehorizontal plane of said trough for suspending said sources of lightwithin said trough, a plate extending longitudinally of the trough abovethe same and extending downwardly in a plane rearwardly of said frontside to conceal said means when viewed from the front of said trough andto form with said front side an opening through which light from saidsource may be projected upwardly and forwardly from said trough forilluminating an adjacent portion of the roof section of said car.

'7. In a railway car having a passenger compartment, an upper deck, anda clerestory, the combination of a continuous light fixture comprising alighting trough having front and rear sides and a bottom through each ofwhich rays of light may pass, means for securing said trough to theupper portion of said car to extend longitudinally thereof along thejuncture of said deck and clerestory, sources of light, means above saidtrough for suspending said sources of light within said trough, a plateextending longitudinally of said trough above the same and extendingdownwardly in a plane outwardly from said front side to conceal saidmeans and to form with said front side an opening through which rays oflight may pass for lighting said clerestory by direct illumination.

ANDREW T. HAGERTY. LEMUEL L. STEWART.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION. Patent No. 2,250,9 L July 29, 19L 1.

ANDREW T. HAGERTY, ET AL.

It is hereby Certified that error appears in the printed specificationof the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 5,second column, line 67, claim 7, for the words "outwardly from" read--rearwardly of-; and that the said Letters Patent should beread withthis correction therein that the same may conform to the record of thecase 'in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed' this 9th day of September, A. D. l9l l.

Henry Van Arsdale, (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents.

